Raymond A. Dannenberg

July 29, 2009

Dr. Raymond A. Dannenberg, a longtime professor in the Western Michigan University Department of Marketing and in the former Department of Distributive Education, died July 12. He was 83.

Dannenberg retired with emeritus status effective Dec. 31, 1989, after 33 years of service to the University. During his WMU tenure, he served as chair of the Department of Distributive Education and director for the Center for Vocational Education, 1972-82. A graduate of Allegan High School, he was a WMU alumnus, earning his bachelor's degree in business administration and distributive education in 1950. He received a master's degree in 1953 and doctoral degree in 1965, both from the University of Michigan in business and distributive education. He held the Horace Rackham Fellowship at Michigan in 1961-62.

Dannenberg joined the WMU faculty in 1956 after teaching distributive education for two years at Royal Oak (Mich.) High School. From 1951 to 1954, he was a business education teacher at Reed City (Mich.) High School. He taught summer workshops at Wayne State University, the University of Wisconsin and Portland State University in Oregon.

Dannenberg served as secretary-treasurer of the national Council for Distributive Education; president of the Michigan Business Education Association; and a member of the Michigan DECA Advisory Board. He was listed in Who's Who in the Midwest and Leaders in Education. He was the author of numerous articles and served as editor of several publications and journals dealing with retail and distributive education. He also served as a reviewer for several textbooks and textbook chapters, including the texts "Retailing: New Perspectives" in 1987 for Dryden Press and "Professional Sales Management" in 1988 for McGraw-Hill.